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Seven Preludes from 24 Preludes, Op 34

Introduction

Yevgeny Vladimirovich Strakhov (1909–1978), prominent pedagogue and orchestral soloist, studied with Vadim Vasilyevich Borisovsky (1900–1972) at the Moscow Conservatory in the 1930s, and taught at the same institution from 1936 until his death. He played in the Moscow Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra from his student days, and in the 1950s became soloist and section leader in the USSR State Symphony Orchestra. Among his hundred or so arrangements is one of Shostakovich’s Cello Sonata, as well as these seven piano preludes.

The twenty-six-year-old Shostakovich composed his set of 24 Preludes between 30 December 1932 and 2 March 1933, roughly six years after his previous solo piano pieces, the Aphorisms, Op 13. Their directness and sharply defined characters are surely indebted to the huge amounts of music for stage and screen he had composed in the intervening years. At the same time, they showcase his newly evolving neoclassical style, already more than halfway towards the obligatory moderated language he adopted from the Fifth Symphony (1937) onwards. More practically, they served as vehicles for his own appearances as pianist. Since the first Chopin competition in 1927, where Shostakovich made a strong impression but was not among the top prize winners, he had given up thoughts of a solo performing career. But he continued to perform his own music, and from the late 1940s he also recorded much of it, including twelve of the Op 34 Preludes.

Strakhov’s transcriptions may not be as well known as those by Dmitry Tsïganov for violin and piano, but they are no less resourceful. The pieces are transposed to suit the configuration of the viola, which is generally allocated the main thematic lines (though the fast waltz, No 15, effectively reverses the roles). The French titles are the transcriber’s—the originals give initial tempo indications only—though they take hints from Shostakovich’s notation when the character is less than obvious. The ‘Mélodie amoureuse’, for instance, picks up the ‘amoroso’ marking for the melody beginning in the third bar. The composer’s own recorded performance of this prelude goes a step further, suggesting tipsy strumming in a late-night bar.

Recordings

Star violist Lawrence Power makes his second appearance in this month’s releases, this time with regular pianist partner Simon Crawford-Phillips. Shostakovich’s searing Viola Sonata forms the centrepiece of a programme that also finds the composer ...» More